Electronic device, screen control method, and storage medium storing screen control program

ABSTRACT

A mobile phone terminal (electronic device) includes a first touch panel and a second touch panel for displaying an object corresponding to an executable function and detect a touch on the object. The mobile phone terminal also includes a control unit that, in a state where the object is displayed on the first touch panel or the second touch panel, when the touch on the object is detected and then a movement of the touch is detected and if the first touch panel or the second touch panel is in a movement direction of the touch, displays a screen provided by a function corresponding to the object on the first touch panel or the second touch panel in the movement direction of the touch.

This application claims priority from Japanese Application No.2010-231666, filed on Oct. 14, 2010, the content of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an electronic device, a screen controlmethod, and a storage medium storing therein a screen control program.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, a touch panel is widely used in order to enable an intuitiveoperation and achieve a compact electronic device without requiring aphysically large area for an user interface, such as a keyboard.Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-164794 proposes a mobilephone terminal that includes two touch panels and is changed to eitherone of an open state in which the two touch panels are exposed and aclosed state in which only one of the touch panels is exposed.

In the above-discussed electronic devices having a plurality of touchpanels, it is previously determined on which of the touch panels ascreen to be activated is displayed. For example, when an icon displayedon a first touch panel is tapped, a screen corresponding to the icon isdisplayed on the first touch panel, and when an icon displayed on asecond touch panel is tapped, a screen corresponding to the icon isdisplayed on the second touch panel.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect, an electronic device includes; a plurality ofdisplay units that include a first display unit; a detector fordetecting a touch on the first display unit; and a control unit. Thefirst display unit displays an object corresponding to an executablefunction. The control unit selects, when the touch on the object isdetected by the detector and then a movement of the touch is detectedthereby, one or more display units for displaying a screen provided bythe function corresponding to the object according to the movement ofthe touch.

According to another aspect, a screen control method is executed by anelectronic device including a plurality of display units that include afirst display unit and a detector for detecting a touch on the firstdisplay unit. The screen control method includes; displaying an objectcorresponding to an executable function; detecting a touch on the objectand a movement of the touch by the detector; and selecting one or moredisplay units for displaying a screen provided by the functioncorresponding to the object according to the movement of the touch.

According to another aspect, a non-transitory storage medium stores ascreen control program for causing, when executed by an electronicdevice which includes a plurality of display units that include a firstdisplay unit and a detector for detecting a touch on the first displayunit, the electronic device to execute displaying an objectcorresponding to an executable function; detecting a touch on the objectand a movement of the touch by the detector; and selecting one or moredisplay units for displaying a screen provided by the functioncorresponding to the object according to the movement of the touch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile phone terminal in a first form;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mobile phone terminal in a secondform;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of displaying a screen on asecond display unit;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of displaying a screen on afirst display unit;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of displaying a screen overthe first display unit and the second display unit;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of displaying a screen in adivided display area;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of themobile phone terminal;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating one example of display-unit data;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating one example of display-area data;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a control unit whena touch on an icon corresponding to an executable function is detected;and

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of other method ofspecifying a display unit for displaying the screen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be explained indetail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should benoted that the present invention is not limited by the followingexplanation. In addition, this disclosure encompasses not only thecomponents specifically described in the explanation below, but alsothose which would be apparent to persons ordinarily skilled in the art,upon reading this disclosure, as being interchangeable with orequivalent to the specifically described components.

In the following description, a mobile phone terminal is used to explainas an example of the electronic device, however, the present inventionis not limited to the mobile phone terminals. Therefore, the presentinvention can be applied to any type of devices provided with a touchpanel, including but not limited to personal handyphone systems (PHS),personal digital assistants (PDA), portable navigation units, personalcomputers (including but not limited to tablet computers, netbooksetc.), media players, portable electronic reading devices, and gamingdevice.

First, an overall configuration of a mobile phone terminal 1 as anembodiment of the electronic device according to the present inventionwill be explained below with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is aperspective view of the mobile phone terminal 1 in a first form, andFIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mobile phone terminal 1 in a secondform. The mobile phone terminal 1 includes a first housing 1A and asecond housing 1B. The first housing 1A is configured so as to beslidable relative to the second housing 1B in the direction of arrow A.

The first housing 1A includes a touch panel 2 on its face on the sideopposite to its face that faces the second housing 1B. The secondhousing 1B includes a touch panel 3 on its face that faces the firsthousing 1A. The touch panel 2 and the touch panel 3 display characters,graphics, images, and so on, and detect various operations performed bythe user on the touch panel using his/her finger(s), a pen, a stylus orthe like (in the description herein below, for the sake of simplicity,it is assumed that the user touches the touch panel 2 and the touchsensor 4 with his/her fingers). The touch panel 3 is covered by thefirst housing 1A in the first form in which the first housing 1A and thesecond housing 1B substantially overlap each other, and is exposed tothe outside in the second form in which the first housing 1A slides inthe direction of arrow A.

The first form is suitable for the user to carry the mobile phoneterminal 1, and even in this form, the user can refer to informationdisplayed on the touch panel 2 and operate the touch panel 2 with thefinger, to input the information. The second form is suitable for theuser to use the mobile phone terminal 1, and thus the user can refer tomore information using both the touch panel 2 and the touch panel 3.

In the following explanation, the touch panel 2 sometimes called “firstdisplay unit”, and the touch panel 3 is sometimes called “second displayunit”. The touch panel 2 and the touch panel 3 are sometimes calledsimply “display unit” without specifying which is which.

Next, the display of a screen in the mobile phone terminal 1 will beexplained with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 6. FIG. 3 is a diagramillustrating an example of displaying the screen on the second displayunit. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of displaying thescreen on the first display unit. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating anexample of displaying the screen over the first display unit and thesecond display unit. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example ofdisplaying the screen in a divided display area. In the followingexplanation, the mobile phone terminal 1 is in the second form, and thetouch panel 3 is therefore exposed to the outside.

At Step S11 illustrated in FIG. 3, a standby screen having an icon 21and an icon 22 arranged therein is displayed on the touch panel 2. Theicon 21 is an object used to activate a Web browsing function, and theicon 22 is an object used to activate an e-mail function. In the presentembodiment, the icon 21 and the like formed from pictograms aredisplayed as objects in order to activate the functions provided in themobile phone terminal 1. However, menu items, buttons, or so foractivating the functions may be displayed as objects.

As used herein, a “standby screen” is a screen in a standby stateawaiting incoming and outgoing calls, or a screen in a standby stateawaiting activation of an application program. In other words, the“standby screen” is a screen before the screen is changed to any screenwith each of various functions provided by the mobile phone terminal 1.The standby screen is sometimes called, for example, “initial screen”,“desktop”, “home screen”, or “wallpaper”. In the example illustrated inFIG. 3, a plain screen is displayed as the standby screen, however,image data or animation data may be displayed as the standby screen.Moreover, a dynamically changing portion like a calendar and a clock maybe included as a part of the standby screen.

Here, it is assumed that the user performs on the icon 22 an operationwith a movement in a direction in which the touch panel 3 is present.The operation with the movement is, for example, a flick operation or adragging operation. A “flick” is an operation of touching a touch panelor a touch sensor, e.g., with a finger, and rapidly moving the finger asif to flick something. A “drag” or “dragging operation” is an operationof touching a touch panel or a touch sensor, e.g., with a finger, andmoving the finger along the touch panel or the touch sensor whilekeeping the finger touched thereon. The operation with the movement isdetected by the touch panel 2 as an operation such that a touch isstarted at a certain point on the touch panel 2 and then the touch pointmoves with the finger kept touched on the touch panel 2.

In this manner, when the operation with the movement is performed on theobject and any other display unit different from the display unitdisplaying the object is present in the movement direction, the mobilephone terminal 1 activates a function corresponding to the object anddisplays a screen corresponding to the function on the display unitpresent in the movement direction. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3,the touch panel 3 is present in the movement direction of the operationperformed on the icon 22. Therefore, at Step S12, the mobile phoneterminal 1 activates the e-mail function corresponding to the icon 22and displays a mail composition screen 31 provided by the e-mailfunction on the touch panel 3.

The mail composition screen 31 includes Address input box 32, Subjectinput box 33, Text input box 34, Send button 35, and Discard button 36.

At Step S21 illustrated in FIG. 4, similarly to Step S11 in FIG. 3, thestandby screen having the icon 21 and the icon 22 arranged therein isdisplayed on the touch panel 2. Here, it is assumed that the userperforms on the icon 22 an operation with a movement in a direction inwhich the touch panel 3 is not present.

In this manner, when the operation with the movement is performed on theobject and there is not any display unit, different from the displayunit displaying the object, in the movement direction, the mobile phoneterminal 1 activates a function corresponding to the object, anddisplays a screen corresponding to the function on the display unitdisplaying the object. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, there is nodisplay unit other than the touch panel 2 in the movement direction ofthe operation performed on the icon 22. Therefore, at Step S22, themobile phone terminal 1 activates the e-mail function corresponding tothe icon 22, and displays the mail composition screen 31 provided by thee-mail function on the touch panel 2.

At Step S31 illustrated in FIG. 5, similarly to Step S11 in FIG. 3, thestandby screen having the icon 21 and the icon 22 arranged therein isdisplayed on the touch panel 2. Here, it is assumed that the userperforms on the icon 22 an operation with movements in a plurality ofdirections. The operation with the movements in the directions is, forexample, a pinch operation. As used herein, a “pinch” is an operation oftouching the touch panel with a plurality of fingers, and moving thefingers with the fingers kept touched on the touch panel so as to changea distance between the touch points of the fingers.

When the operation with the movements in the directions is performed onthe object in the above manner, the mobile phone terminal 1 activates afunction corresponding to the object and displays a screen correspondingto the function over a plurality of display units. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 5, the pinch is performed on the icon 22. Therefore,at Step S32, the mobile phone terminal 1 activates the e-mail functioncorresponding to the icon 22, and displays the mail composition screen31 provided by the e-mail function over the touch panel 2 and the touchpanel 3.

The mobile phone terminal 1 can divide a display area of the displayunit into a plurality of display areas and display a screen on each ofthe divided display areas. At Step S41 illustrated in FIG. 6, similarlyto Step S11 in FIG. 3, the standby screen having the icon 21 and theicon 22 arranged therein is displayed on the touch panel 2. A displayarea of the touch panel 3 is divided into a display area 38 and adisplay area 39. Boundary between the display area 38 and the displayarea 39 is provided perpendicularly to a boundary line between the touchpanel 2 and the touch panel 3.

Here, it is assumed that the user performs on the icon 22 an operationwith a movement in a direction in which the touch panel 3 is present.

In this manner, when the operation with the movement is performed on theobject and the display unit present in the movement direction is dividedinto the display areas, the mobile phone terminal 1 activates a functioncorresponding to the object and displays a screen corresponding to thefunction on the display area present in the movement direction. If aplurality of display areas are present in the movement direction, it ispreferable to calculate a distance between the center (or the center ofgravity) of a display area and a line extending in the movementdirection for each of the display areas present in the movementdirection, and to set a display area having a shortest distance as adisplay target of the screen. When there are a plurality of displayareas in which the distance between the center and the line extending inthe movement direction is shorter than a predetermined threshold, it ispreferable to set a display area closest to the operated object as adisplay target of the screen.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the display area of the touchpanel 3 is divided into the display area 38 and the display area 39 inthe movement direction of the operation, and the distance between thecenter of the display area 39 and the line extending from the icon 22 inthe movement direction of the finger is shorter than the distancebetween the center of the display area 38 and the line. Therefore, atStep S42, the mobile phone terminal 1 activates the e-mail functioncorresponding to the icon 22 and displays the mail composition screen 31provided by the e-mail function in the display area 39.

As explained above, when the operation with the movement is performed onthe object, the mobile phone terminal 1 switches the display unit fordisplaying the screen provided by the function corresponding to theobject, according to the movement direction. Therefore, the user candisplay a desired screen on an arbitrary display unit of the displayunits through a simple operation.

Next, a functional configuration of the mobile phone terminal 1 will beexplained below with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a block diagramillustrating a functional configuration of the mobile phone terminal 1.The mobile phone terminal 1 includes the touch panel 2, the touch panel3, an attitude detector 4, a power supply unit 5, a communication unit6, a speaker 7, a microphone 8, a storage unit 9, a control unit 10, anda random access memory (RAM) 11. Each of the components may be providedin either one of the first housing 1A and the second housing 1B exceptthat the touch panel 2 is provided on the first housing 1A and the touchpanel 3 is provided on the second housing 1B.

The touch panel 2 includes a display unit 2B and a touch sensor 2Aoverlapped on the display unit 2B. The touch panel 3 includes a displayunit 3B and a touch sensor 3A overlapped on the display unit 3B. Thetouch sensor 2A and the touch sensor 3A detect various operations(gestures) performed on the surfaces thereof as well as the positions onthe surfaces where the operations are performed, respectively. Theoperations detected by the touch sensor 2A and the touch sensor 3Ainclude a tapping operation of briefly touching the finger on thesurface of the touch panel), a flick operation of rapidly moving thefinger on the surface of the touch panel), and a dragging operation ofmoving the finger with the finger kept touched on the surface of thetouch panel. Any detection methods, including but not limited to, apressure sensitive type detection method and a capacitive type detectionmethod, may be adopted as the detection method of the touch sensor 2Aand/or the touch sensor 3A. The display unit 2B and the display unit 3Bare formed with, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) and anorganic electro-luminescence (organic EL) panel, and display characters,graphics, images, or the like.

The attitude detector 4 detects whether the mobile phone terminal 1 isin the first form or in the second form. The attitude detector 4 detectsan attitude of the mobile phone terminal 1 using, for example,mechanical switches provided on faces of the first housing 1A and thesecond housing 1B that face each other.

The power supply unit 5 supplies electric power obtained from a batteryor an external power supply to each of function units of the mobilephone terminal 1 including the control unit 10. The communication unit 6establishes a wireless signal path using a code-division multiple access(CDMA) system, or any other wireless communication protocols, with abase station via a channel allocated by the base station, and performstelephone communication and information communication with the basestation. Any other wired or wireless communication or networkinterfaces, e.g., LAN, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC (Near Field Communication)may also be included in lieu of or in addition to the communication unit6. The speaker 7 outputs speech of the other party on the telephonecommunication, a ring tone, or the like. The microphone 8 converts thespeech of the user or other captured sounds to electrical signals.

The storage unit 9 includes one or more non-transitory storage medium,for example, a nonvolatile memory (such as ROM, EPROM, flash card etc.)and/or a storage device (such as magnetic storage device, opticalstorage device, solid-state storage device etc.), and stores thereinprograms and data used for processes performed by the control unit 10.Specifically, the storage unit 9 stores therein a mail program 9A forimplementing the e-mail function, a browser program 9B for implementingthe Web browsing function, a screen control program 9C for providing thescreen control, a display-unit data 9D storing therein information fordimensions of the display unit 2B and the display unit 3B and for arelationship therebetween, and a display-area data 9E storing thereininformation for divided display areas. The storage unit 9 also storestherein, in addition to the above ones, an operating system program forimplementing basic functions of the mobile phone terminal 1, and otherprograms and data such as address book data in which names, telephonenumbers, mail addresses, and the like are registered.

The display-unit data 9D and the display-area data 9E will be explainedbelow with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustratingone example of the display-unit data 9D. FIG. 9 is a diagramillustrating one example of the display-area data 9E.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the display-unit data 9D includes items, suchas ID, Top left coordinates, Width, Height, and Area division, andstores data for each display unit. Stored under the item ID is anidentification number of the display unit. For example, “1” is anidentification number of the display unit 2B, and “2” is anidentification number of the display unit 3B. Stored under the item Topleft coordinates are top left coordinates of the display unit assumingthat the display units are on the same coordinate plane. Stored underthe item Width is a width of the display unit, and a height of thedisplay unit is stored under the item Height. In this example, the unitof coordinates and dimensions is pixel. Stored under the item Areadivision is a value that indicates whether the display unit is dividedinto a plurality of areas. For example, “Yes” indicates that the displayunit is divided into areas, and “No” indicates that the display unit isnot divided into areas.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the display-area data 9E includes items, suchas ID, Sub ID, Top left coordinates, Width, and Height, and storestherein data for each divided display area. Stored under the item ID isan identification number of the display unit provided with the displayarea. Stored under the item Sub ID is an identification number of thedisplay area. Stored under the item Top left coordinates are top leftcoordinates of the display area on the same coordinate plane as that ofthe display-unit data 9D. Stored under the item Width is a width of thedisplay area, and a height of the display area is stored under the itemHeight.

The value of the item of Area division in the display-unit data 9D andthe data stored in the display-area data 9E are changed as necessary bythe control unit 10 according to setting or so performed by the user.When both the display unit 2B and the display unit 3B are not dividedinto areas, the display-area data 9E is empty.

The control unit 10 is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU),and integrally controls the operations of the mobile phone terminal 1.Specifically, the control unit 10 executes the program(s) stored in thestorage unit 9 while referring to the data stored in the storage unit 9as necessary, and executes the various processes by controlling thetouch panel 2, the communication unit 6, and the like. The control unit10 loads the program stored in the storage unit 9 or the dataacquired/generated/processed through execution of the processes to theRAM 11 that provides a temporary storage area, as required. The programexecuted by the control unit 10 and the data to be referred to may bedownloaded from a server over wireless communication by thecommunication unit 6.

For example, the control unit 10 executes the mail program 9A, toimplement the e-mail function. The control unit 10 also executes thescreen control program 9C, to implement the function of displaying ascreen on the display unit specified by the user in the above manner.

Next, a processing procedure executed by the control unit 10 based onthe screen control program 9C will be explained with reference to FIG.10. The processing procedure is executed, when the mobile phone terminal1 is in the second form, each time a touch on an object such as an iconcorresponding to an executable function is detected by the touch panel 2or the touch panel 3.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the control unit 10when a touch on an icon corresponding to an executable function isdetected. At Step S101, when a touch on an icon is detected by the touchpanel 2 or the touch panel 3, the control unit 10 determines whether thetouch is a touch with a movement of a touch point, at Step S102. Thetouch with the movement of the touch point is, for example, a touchdetected when the flick operation or the dragging operation isperformed.

When the touch on the icon is not the touch with the movement of thetouch point (No at Step S102), then the control unit 10 executes anormal process performed when the touch without the movement of thetouch point is detected, at Step S103. The normal process performed whenthe touch without the movement of the touch point is detected is, forexample, a process of displaying explanation of the icon when the touchon the icon is continuously detected for a predetermined time or longer.

When the touch on the icon is the touch with the movement of the touchpoint (Yes at Step S102), the control unit 10 determines whether thetouch is a touch with a plurality of movement directions, at Step S104.The touch with the movement directions is, for example, a touch detectedwhen the pinch operation is performed. When the touch on the icon is thetouch with the movement directions (Yes at Step S104), the control unit10 activates the function corresponding to the touched icon and displaysthe screen provided by the function over a plurality of display units,at Step S105.

When the touch on the icon is not the touch with the movement directions(No at Step S104), the control unit 10 determines whether there is anyother display unit, in the movement direction, different from thedisplay unit displaying the touched icon, at Step S106. Whether there isany other display unit in the movement direction is determined by, forexample, checking the position where the touch is detected and themovement direction of the detected touch against the display-unit data9D.

When there is not any other display unit in the movement direction (Noat Step S106), the control unit 10 activates the function correspondingto the touched icon, and displays the screen provided by the function onthe display unit displaying the touched icon, at Step S107.

When there is any other display unit in the movement direction (Yes atStep S106), the control unit 10 determines whether the display area ofthe display unit in the movement direction is divided into a pluralityof display areas, at Step S108. Whether the display area of the displayunit is divided into the display areas is determined by, for example,referring to the display-unit data 9D.

When the display area of the display unit in the movement direction isdivided into the display areas (Yes at Step S108), the control unit 10activates the function corresponding to the touched icon, and displaysthe screen provided by the function on the display area in the movementdirection, at Step S109. The display area in the movement direction isselected based on, for example, a distance between the center of each ofthe display areas and a line extending in the movement directioncalculated using the data acquired from the display-area data 9E.

When the display unit in the movement direction is not divided into thedisplay areas (No at Step S108), the control unit 10 activates thefunction corresponding to the touched icon, and displays the screenprovided by the function on the display unit in the movement direction,at Step S110.

As explained above, the present embodiment is configured to switch adisplay unit that displays a screen according to the movement directionwhen the operation with a movement is performed on an object. Therefore,the user can display a desired screen on an arbitrary display unit.

The aspects of the embodiments can be arbitrarily changed withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the present invention. Forexample, the screen control program 9C may be separated into a pluralityof modules, or may be integrated with other programs.

The embodiment is configured that the mobile phone terminal 1 changesfrom the first form to the second form due to relative sliding of thefirst housing 1A and the second housing 1B. However, the change from thefirst form to the second form may be implemented by any operation otherthan the sliding operation. For example, the mobile phone terminal 1 maybe a flip phone type terminal that couples the first housing 1A and thesecond housing 1B by a two-axis rotating hinge. In this case, byrelatively rotating the first housing 1A and the second housing 1Baround the two axes of the hinge as a rotation axis, the form is changedto the other. Moreover, the mobile phone terminal 1 may be an ordinaryflip phone type terminal that couples the first housing 1A and thesecond housing 1B by a one-axis rotating hinge.

In the embodiment, when the touch due to the pinch operation isdetected, the screen is displayed over a plurality of display units.However, when a touch due to any other operation such as a double-tapoperation is detected, the screen may be displayed over the displayunits. A “double-tap” is an operation of repeating twice an operation oftouching the touch panel with the finger and releasing therefrom thefinger immediately so as to dab the icon or so.

The embodiment represents the example of the electronic device providedwith the two display units, however, the present disclosure can beapplied to any electronic device provided with three or more displayunits. When the electronic device provided with three or more displayunits displays a screen over a plurality of display units, the screenmay be displayed over all the display units, or the screen may bedisplayed over previously selected display units.

The embodiment is configured to specify on which of the display unitsthe screen is displayed by the operation with a movement performed onthe object. However, a display unit for displaying the screen may bespecified by any other method. An example of other method of specifyinga display unit for displaying the screen will be explained below withreference to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example ofother method of specifying a display unit for displaying the screen.

At Step S51 illustrated in FIG. 11, similarly to Step S11 in FIG. 3, thestandby screen having the icon 21 and the icon 22 arranged therein isdisplayed on the touch panel 2. Here, it is assumed that the usertouches the finger on the touch panel 2 within the display areaincluding the icon 22 and the touch panel 2 detects the touch.

In this method, when the touch on the object is detected, the mobilephone terminal 1 prompts the user for on which of the display units thescreen provided by the function corresponding to the object is to bedisplayed. In the example of FIG. 11, a message 23 “Touch a display unitfor displaying the screen” is displayed on the touch panel 2.

When the touch on the touch panel 3 is detected by the touch panel 3 atStep S52, the mobile phone terminal 1 activates the e-mail functioncorresponding to the icon 22. The mobile phone terminal 1 then displaysthe mail composition screen 31 provided by the e-mail function on thetouch panel 3.

The electronic device, the screen control method, and the screen controlprogram according to the present invention can arbitrarily select adisplay unit for displaying a screen.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a plurality ofdisplay units that include a first display unit for displaying an objectcorresponding to an executable function; a detector for detecting atouch on the first display unit; and a control unit for selecting, whenthe touch on the object is detected by the detector and then a movementof the touch is detected thereby, one or more display units among theplurality of display units for displaying a screen provided by thefunction corresponding to the object according to the movement of thetouch, wherein the movement of the touch is detected on the firstdisplay unit; and the control unit is configured to display the screenon the one or more display units, while keeping displaying the object onthe first display unit.
 2. The electronic device according to claim 1,wherein the control unit is configured to select the one or more displayunits for displaying the screen according to a direction of the movementof the touch.
 3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein thecontrol unit is configured to select, when, among the plurality ofdisplay units, there is no display unit other than the first displayunit in a direction of the movement of the touch detected by thedetector, the first display unit as the display unit for displaying thescreen.
 4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein thecontrol unit is configured to display, when the movement of the touchdetected by the detector includes a pinch operation in a plurality ofmoving directions, the screen over the display units.
 5. The electronicdevice according to claim 1, wherein the display units include a seconddisplay unit whose display area is dividable into a first sub-displayarea and a second sub-display area, and the control unit is configuredto select, when the second display unit is in a direction of themovement of the touch detected by the detector, the first sub-displayarea as an area for displaying the screen, without displaying the screenin the second sub-display area.
 6. The electronic device according toclaim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to, in response to thedetected movement of the touch, initiate the function corresponding tothe object and cause the one or more display units to display the screenprovided by the function.
 7. The electronic device according to claim 1,wherein when (i) the screen is displayed on the one or more displayunits and (ii) a touch and a movement of the touch are detected by thedetector on the object that is kept to be displayed on the first displayunit, the control unit is configured to change appearances of the screenbased on the detected movement of the touch.
 8. A screen control methodexecuted by an electronic device including a detector and a plurality ofdisplay units that include a first display unit, the screen controlmethod comprising: displaying, on the first display unit, an objectcorresponding to an executable function; detecting, by the detector, atouch on the object displayed on the first display unit and a movementof the touch, wherein the movement of the touch is detected on the firstdisplay unit; and selecting, according to the movement of the touch, oneor more display units among the plurality of display units fordisplaying a screen provided by the function corresponding to theobject, while keeping displaying the object on the first display unit.9. The screen control method according to claim 8, wherein the selectingincludes, when the movement of the touch is detected by the detector tobe in a moving direction, selecting the one or more display units fordisplaying the screen according to the direction of the movement of thetouch.
 10. The screen control method according to claim 8 wherein theselecting includes selecting, when, among the plurality of displayunits, there is no display unit other than the first display unit in adirection of the movement of the touch detected by the detector, thefirst display unit as the display unit for displaying the screen. 11.The screen control method according to claim 8, wherein the selectingincludes displaying, when the movement of the touch detected by thedetector includes a pinch operation in a plurality of moving directions,the screen over the display units.
 12. The screen control methodaccording to claim 8, wherein the display units include a second displayunit whose display area is dividable into a first sub-display area and asecond sub-display area, and the selecting includes selecting, when thesecond display unit is in a direction of the movement of the touchdetected by the detector, the first sub-display area as an area fordisplaying the screen, without displaying the screen in the secondsub-display area.
 13. The screen control method according to claim 8,further comprising, in response to the detected movement of the touch:initiating the function corresponding to the object; and causing the oneor more display units to display the screen provided by the function.14. The screen control method according to claim 8, further comprisingwhen (i) the screen is displayed on the one or more display units and(ii) a touch and a movement of the touch are detected by the detector onthe object that is kept to be displayed on the first display unit,changing appearances of the screen based on the detected movement of thetouch.
 15. A non-transitory storage medium that stores a screen controlprogram for causing, when executed by an electronic device whichincludes a detector and a plurality of display units that include afirst display unit, the electronic device to execute displaying, on thefirst display unit, an object corresponding to an executable function;detecting, by the detector, a touch on the object displayed on the firstdisplay unit and a movement of the touch, wherein the movement of thetouch is detected on the first display unit; and selecting, according tothe movement of the touch, one or more display units among the pluralityof display units for displaying a screen provided by the functioncorresponding to the object, while keeping displaying the object on thefirst display unit.
 16. The storage medium according to claim 15,wherein the selecting includes selecting the one or more display unitsfor displaying the screen according to a direction of the movement ofthe touch.
 17. The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein theselecting includes selecting, when, among the plurality of displayunits, there is no display unit other than the first display unit in adirection of the movement of the touch detected by the detector, thefirst display unit as the display unit for displaying the screen. 18.The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the selecting includesdisplaying, when the movement of the touch detected by the detectorincludes a pinch operation in a plurality of moving directions, thescreen over the display units.
 19. The storage medium according to claim15, wherein the display units include a second display unit whosedisplay area is dividable into a first sub-display area and a secondsub-display area, and the selecting includes selecting, when the seconddisplay unit is in a direction of the movement of the touch detected bythe detector, the first sub-display area as an area for displaying thescreen, without displaying the screen in the second sub-display area.20. The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the screen controlprogram is configured to cause the electronic device to execute, inresponse to the detected movement of the touch, initiating the functioncorresponding to the object; and causing the one or more display unitsto display the screen provided by the function.
 21. The storage mediumaccording to claim 15, wherein the screen control program is configuredto cause the electronic device to further execute when (i) the screen isdisplayed on the one or more display units and (ii) a touch and amovement of the touch are detected by the detector on the object that iskept to be displayed on the first display unit, changing appearances ofthe screen based on the detected movement of the touch.